1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic projection apparatus comprising:
a radiation system for supplying a projection beam of radiation;
a first object table for holding a mask;
a second object table for holding a substrate; and
a projection system for imaging an irradiated portion of the mask onto a target portion of the substrate.
More particularly, the invention relates to a mask table for use in such apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the “lens”; however, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection system, including refractive optics, reflective optics, catadioptric systems, and charged particle optics, for example. The radiation system may also include elements operating according to any of these principles for directing, shaping or controlling the projection beam of radiation, and such elements may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a “lens”. In addition, the first and second object tables may be referred to as the “mask table” and the “substrate table”, respectively. Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more mask tables and/or two or more substrate tables. In such “multiple table” devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more stages while one or more other stages are being used for exposures. Twin stage lithographic apparatus are described in International Patent Applications WO 98/28665 and WO 98/40791, for example.
Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, the mask (reticle) may contain a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) which has been coated with a layer of photosensitive material (resist). In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions which are successively irradiated via the mask, one at a time. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion at once; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper. In an alternative apparatus—which is commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus—each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the “scanning” direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction; since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally<1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices are here described can be gleaned from International Patent Application WO 97/33205.
In the above apparatus, the mask must be securely held (“clamped”) so that it can be accurately positioned in the x, y and z direction and in rotational orientation about the x, y and z axes (referred to as the Rx, Ry and Rz directions). The z direction is defined as being the direction along an axis which is substantially parallel to the optical axis of the projection system, and the x and y directions are along axes which are substantially perpendicular to the z axis and to each other. The mask can be subjected to large accelerations in its plane (the xy plane), particularly in a step-and-scan apparatus where the acceleration can be around 5 g (where g is the gravitational acceleration). In the z direction, the mask can be positioned with a 100 Hz bandwidth actuator which requires a relatively high stiffness in the z direction. The mask clamping arrangement must be sufficiently secure to withstand such accelerations and also to provide the mask with the necessary stiffness in the xy plane.
However, previous mask clamping arrangements, such as a rigid vacuum clamp on the mask table, have the problem that deformation of the mask can be caused. This can be as a result of either or both of the mask and the vacuum clamp not being perfectly flat or because of contaminant particles being trapped between the mask and the clamp. For example, the mask may only be flat to within a few μm. The deformation of the mask leads to distortion of the projected image, and variation in distortion between different masks leads to overlay errors. Some deformation can be corrected for by adjustment of one or more lens elements in the apparatus; however, not all distortion can be corrected in this way and the deformation is generally not reproducible between different masks.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for holding a mask which avoids or alleviates the above problems.
According to the present invention there is provided a lithographic projection apparatus for imaging of a mask pattern in a mask onto a substrate provided with a radiation-sensitive layer, the apparatus comprising:
a radiation system for supplying a projection beam of radiation;
a first object table for holding a mask;
a second object table for holding a substrate;
a projection system for imaging irradiated portions of the mask onto target portions of the substrate; wherein:
said mask table comprises at least one compliant member for holding said mask such that said at least one compliant member yields to conform substantially to the profile of the mask.
The use of at least one compliant member enables the mask to be held, but without unwanted deformation by forcing it to adopt a particular shape. The member can yield to accommodate flatness variations in the mask. The member, preferably a membrane, has a stiffness in the xy plane such that thermal expansion of the mask can be accommodated by the flexibility of the member, but without slipping of the mask with respect to the member. Slipping is detrimental to overlay precision, more so than thermal expansion, because of its asymmetric occurrence.
By appropriate choice of material and thickness of the member, its stiffness can be determined such that any particles trapped between the mask and member will preferentially deform the member rather than the mask. This can reduce deflection of the mask caused by a contaminant particle by a factor of as much as 10,000 compared to conventional mask clamping arrangements.
Preferably said at least one member comprises a pair of parallel strips, each of which is supported along its length. This improves the stiffness of the member against sagging, and reduces material creep.
Preferably the apparatus comprises a recess in the member which can function as a vacuum space for holding the mask and the member against each other (see for example FIG. 4). This arrangement is both secure and compact.
Preferably the apparatus comprises a plurality of support points for defining the position of the mask perpendicular to its plane, that is in the z, Rx and Ry directions. The, or each, member defines the x, y and Rz position of the mask, and support points define the remaining position of the mask without distorting it into a particular shape. Three support points define a plane, so are the minimum number needed without over-constraining the position of the mask. A fourth support point can also be provided to give more stability and stiffness, but preferably the fourth support point is, for example, a damped gas bearing to eliminate vibrations of the mask.
Preferably the apparatus further comprises a vacuum chamber in a table supporting said at least one member, for deforming the member. By bending the member down into the vacuum chamber a couple will be introduced on the mask supported on the opposite edge of the member which will compensate against sagging of the mask.
Preferably a gas cushion is provided for supporting said at least one member; such a cushion may be of the order of 10 μm thick, for example. The gas (such as air) in the cushion supports the member, preferably a membrane, whilst allowing flatness variations. It also damps the member and mask held thereon against vibrations, whilst still providing adequate stiffness in the z direction. The gas cushion also improves the thermal conductivity between the supported mask and the table. This can be important because it enables heat arising from the incidence of radiation on the mask to be conducted away from the mask.
Preferably the or each member is made of one or more materials selected from metal, silica (SiOx), CaF2, MgF2, BaF2, Al2O3 and Zerodur® (trademark) ceramic. Most of these materials can enable the member to be made of the same material as the mask. This has the advantage that the mask and member can then have the same mechanical properties, such as coefficient of thermal expansion, and, therefore, further reduces distortion and creep.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a device using a lithographic projection apparatus comprising:
a radiation system for supplying a projection beam of radiation;
a first object table for holding a mask;
a second object table for holding a substrate; and
a projection system for imaging irradiated portions of the mask onto target portions of the substrate; the method comprising the steps of:
providing a mask bearing a pattern to said first object table;
providing a substrate provided with a radiation-sensitive layer to said second object table; and
irradiating portions of the mask and imaging said irradiated portions of the mask onto said target portions of said substrate,
characterised by the step of:
holding said mask, during operation, on said mask table with the aid of at least one compliant member such that said at least one compliant member yields to conform substantially to the profile of the mask.
In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus according to the invention a pattern in a mask is imaged onto a substrate which is at least partially covered by a layer of energy-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging step, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard brake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallisation, oxidation, chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book “Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing”, Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4.
Although specific reference may be made in this text to the use of the apparatus according to the invention in the manufacture of ICs, it should be explicitly understood that such an apparatus has many other possible applications. For example, it may be employed in the manufacture of integrated optical systems, guidance and detection patterns for magnetic domain memories, liquid-crystal display panels, thin-film magnetic beads, etc. The skilled artisan will appreciate that, in the context of such alternative applications, any use of the terms “reticle”, “wafer” or “die” in this text should be considered as being replaced by the more general terms “mask”, “substrate” and “target portion”, respectively.